BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1121
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 19, 2012
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 1121 (Hancock) - As Amended: May 25, 2012
SUMMARY : Requires a credentialed teacher, vice principal, or
principal to provide input relating to the academic or
vocational education program placement of an inmate, including,
but not limited to, interviewing the inmate, verifying the
inmate's education records and test score, or being present at
meetings relating to the academic or vocational education
program placement.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires California Department of Corrections (CDCR) to
conduct assessments of all inmates that include, but are not
limited to, data regarding the inmate's history of substance
abuse, medical and mental health, education, family
background, criminal activity, and social functioning. These
assessments shall be used to place inmates in programs that
will aid in their reentry to society and that will most likely
reduce the inmate's chances of reoffending. (Penal Code
Section 3020.)
2)Mandates the Director of CDCR to shall implement in every
state prison literacy programs that are designed to ensure
that upon parole inmates are able to achieve a ninth-grade
reading level. CDCR shall prepare an implementation plan for
this program, and shall request the necessary funds to
implement this program as follows:
a) To make the program available to at least 25% of
eligible inmates in the state prison system by July 1,
1991; and
b) To make the program available to at least 60% of
eligible inmates in the state prison system by January 1,
1996. (Penal Code Section 2053.1.)
SB 1121
Page 2
3)Authorizes the Director of Corrections to establish and
maintain classes for inmates by utilizing personnel of CDCR,
or by entering into an agreement with the governing board of a
school district or private school or the governing boards of
school district under which the district shall maintain
classes for such inmates for such inmates. The governing
board of a school district or private school may enter into
such an agreement regardless of whether the institution or
facility at which the classes are to be established and
maintained is within or without the boundaries of the school
district. (Penal Code Section 2054.)
4)Requires CDCR to determine and implement a system of
incentives to increase inmate participation in, and completion
of, academic and vocational education, consistent with the
inmate's educational needs as identified in the inmate's
assessment, including, but not limited to, a literacy level as
specified, a high school diploma or equivalent, or a
particular vocational job skill. These incentives may be
consistent with other incentives provided to inmates who
participate in work programs. (Penal Code Section 2054.2.)
5)Provides that CDCR's inmate classification process shall take
into consideration the inmate's needs, interests and desires,
his or her behavior and placement score in keeping with the
CDCR and institution's or facility's program and security
missions and public safety. Each determination affecting an
inmate's placement within an institution/facility, transfer
between facilities, program participation, privilege groups,
or custody designation shall be made by a classification
committee composed of staff knowledgeable in the
classification process. �15 Cal. Code of Regs. Section
3375(b), (c).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Current
practice at the CDCR allows custodial staff and classification
committees to assign inmates in education programs and does
not require participation from educators. SB 1121 would
require a teacher, vice principal, or principal to provide
input relating to the placement of inmates in academic or
vocational education at classification committee meetings.
SB 1121
Page 3
The bill would allow educators to participate in the
assignment process by interviewing inmates, verifying their
education records and test scores, or attending the
classification committee meetings.
"In recent years, a decrease in rehabilitation funding,
particularly to the number of teachers and education programs,
has made it extremely important that those who are assessed to
have educational deficiencies or need job training be placed
in the most appropriate programs to meet their needs.
However, that has not been the case. A recent survey of 216
teachers within California's 33 state prisons indicated
problems with mis-assignments and the inability to remove or
add inmates to classes. Teachers, for example, reported long
waiting lists to get into classes while inmates who had been
in the infirmary for over 4 months were still listed in their
classes, thus taking up limited space that could have been
given to other students. In a recent report by the
Legislative Analyst Office (LAO), Refocusing CDCR After the
2011 Realignment, the LAO reported that the CDCR is not
adhering to a number of principles of effective programming
such as risk and needs principles. For example, in September
2011 the Bureau of State Audits (BSA) found that CDCR is not
always using needs assessments to assign inmates to programs
(The Benefits of Its Correctional Offender Management
Profiling for Alternative Sanctions Program Are Uncertain).
"This bill is an effort to address some of the issues raised by
the LAO and the BSA, and to address a persistent problem that
teachers in the field indicate decreases the effectiveness of
rehabilitation programs. With less overcrowding as a result
of the public safety realignment, there is an opportunity to
put in place academic and vocational education programs that
would allow inmates to successfully reintegrate into society.
In that respect, the law needs to change to allow
professionals to help custodial staff make education placement
decisions."
2)Overview of Inmate Classification at CDCR : When an inmate is
first committed to CDCR, he or she is first sent to a
reception center to be evaluated for placement at an
institution. Upon arrival, a new inmate receives brief
physical and mental health evaluations and an evaluation for
any safety concerns, such as gang activity. During his or her
time in the reception center, the inmate receives further
SB 1121
Page 4
in-depth evaluations for physical, mental, dental and
education needs. Documentation of these evaluations is added
to the inmate's Central File.
After a Central File is created and all of the initial
evaluations are completed, a Correctional Counselor I (CC I)
will review all of the documentation and fill out a
classification score sheet and complete an Institution Staff
Recommendation Summary (ISRS), which recommends appropriate
housing options for the inmate. The ISRS is reviewed by a
Supervising Correctional Counselor II (CC II) and provided to
a Classification Staff Representative who will endorse the
inmate to the prison where he or she will serve his or her
sentence.
Upon arrival in the General Population, an inmate is assigned to
housing based on his or her endorsement and bed space
availability. The inmate is then assigned to a CCI, who will
review the Central File and prepare for the Initial-Unit
Classification Committee (UCC). The UCC is supposed to occur
within 14 days of the inmate's arrival. The Initial and UCC
are generally comprised of a Facility Captain, Correctional
Counselor II, a CC I, Educational or Vocational
Representative, Inmate Assignment Lieutenant, and other staff
as required. Teachers are not currently required to be part
of the classification process.
At this classification hearing, the inmate's custody level, Work
Group (which determines his credit-earning status) and
Privilege Group (WG/PG), assignment to a waiting list if
indicated, and any visiting restrictions are established. In
determining program placement, the Initial Classification
Committee and UCC shall consider factors that include, but are
not limited to, the following: academic testing; program
availability; work skills; criminal history; vocational
certifications; reintegration needs; substance abuse treatment
needs; safety concerns; inmate's request; and medical, dental,
and mental health needs. Every decision of a classification
committee shall be documented on a Classification Chrono form.
Inmates are reclassified at least once annually, but they may
be reclassified after six months, whenever case factors
indicate a change in endorsement or when program or treatment
needs require it. �State of California Department of
Corrections Office of Research, Expert Panel Study of the
Inmate Classification Score System (December 2011) pages
SB 1121
Page 5
19-20.]
According to CDCR, an inmate may be removed from a program for
reasons that include, but are not limited to, the following:
disciplinary behavior and/or refusal to participate, program
completion, safety concerns within the area, substance abuse
treatment needs, medical, dental, and mental health
restrictions, program closure, pre-release processing time,
and transfer. An inmate's work supervisor will provide
documentation that supports an inmate's program removal to the
assigned CC I. The CC I will schedule the inmate to appear
before a UCC for a program review. The UCC will discuss the
inmate's program participation, retention, removal, and
reassignment. The Chairperson will inform the inmate of the
decision for the decision, e.g., refusal to participate, etc.
The inmate will be placed on a new waiting list.
3)COMPAS Needs Assessment Tool : In June 2007, CDCR's Expert
Panel on Adult Offender and Recidivism Reduction Programming
found that:
Assessing offender risk levels and needs is a crucial
component of effective programming. Doing so allows
correctional agencies to assign offenders to the programs
that will most likely benefit them. But the CDCR was found
to most often assign offenders to programming on a first
come, first-served, basis. This practice virtually ensured
that offenders were not getting the rehabilitation
programming that they need." (CDCR, COMPAS Assessment Tool
Launched - Evidence Based Rehabilitation for Offender
Success, at page 2.)
CDCR adopted the Correctional Offender Management Profiling
for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) as the needs assessment
tool to determine offender rehabilitation treatment
programming needs. Beginning in February 2009, correctional
staff in all reception centers began to use inmate COMPAS
profiles to place inmates in the appropriate programs.
According to CDCR, this tool allows the CDCR to use
evidence-based principles, including providing rehabilitative
programming to the higher risk-to-reoffend prisoners and
parolees, and provide other types of programs to
low-risk-to-reoffend prisoners and parolees; helps
correctional staff assign the right inmates to the right
programs at the right time based on individual risk and needs
SB 1121
Page 6
assessments; and aids in reducing the likelihood that the
inmate will reoffend upon reentry to society. The profiles
consist of series of questions used to determine overall risk
potential and criminogenic needs profile and data on the
inmate's history of substance abuse, education, family
background, criminal activity, and social functioning. (Id.
at pages 1-2.)
Despite its adoption of the COMPAS needs assessment tool, CDCR
has been criticized for its track record in matching the right
inmate with the right programs, be they educational,
vocational training or otherwise. The Legislative Analyst's
Office (LAO) recently found that:
CDCR Is Not Adhering to Certain Principles of Effective
Programming. The department is not currently adhering to �
] principles of effective programming as well as it could
be. For example, the Bureau of State Audits (BSA) recently
found that CDCR is not always using needs assessments to
assign inmates to programs. Although the department
assesses the programming needs of prisoners, it does not
often use the results of the assessments to determine where
inmates will be assigned. This often means that inmates
are assigned to prisons where the programs they need are
not offered. In addition, the department does not always
use the results of the needs assessment when assigning
inmates to programs. (LAO, The 2012-13 Budget: Refocusing
CDCR After the 2011 Realignment, February 23, 2012, at page
27.)
LAO also found that even where CDCR identifies the needs of
inmates and parolees for specific types of programming, CDCR
lacks the capacity to provide that programming. (Id. at page
28.) However, with the full implementation of realignment,
the programming needs of the remaining inmates will differ
from the needs of pre-realignment. There will be less need
for substance abuse treatment and with inmates serving longer
sentences, the aging population will have a lower risk of
reoffending. (Id. at page 29.) Also, "this means that at any
point in time there will be fewer inmates within four years of
release - a segment of the prison population that, according
to the department is currently given the highest priority for
placement in programming." (Id.)
4)Incorrect Assignments : A recent survey of teachers in CDCR's
SB 1121
Page 7
Adult Division found that many inmates are improperly assigned
to classrooms or programs. The survey looked at three
different causes for these mis-assignments. The first cause
was the failure of these classification committees to
thoroughly examine the educational and academic background of
inmates, and verifying information about GED or high school
diplomas. The second cause was relying on old or incorrect
scores on the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE), which
assesses basic skills in reading, mathematics, language and
spelling. And the third cause was the failure to identify
behavioral issues that would make an inmate's assignment to a
certain classroom or vocational program inappropriate.
�Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, Bargaining
Unit 3 Teachers Survey (April 2012) pages 1-2.]
According to the survey, percentages of mis-assignment due to
incorrect records of credentials range from 0% to 60% by
institution, with an average of 21%; percentages of
mis-assignment due to incorrect TABE scores range from 0% to
55%, with an average of 29%; and percentages of mis-assignment
due to failure to identify behavioral issues range from 0% to
40% by prison, with an average of 18%. Of all the prisons
surveyed, California Institute for Men stood out with
estimated 60% of mis-assignment due to incorrect records of
credentials, 40% of mis-assignment due to incorrect TABE
scores, and 25% mis-assignment rates due to failure to
identify behavioral issues. (Id. at pg. 4.)
Incorrect assignments are problematic because getting inmates
properly reassigned can take months, according to survey
results. These results show that reassignment at the worst
institutions ranged up to eight or nine months. (Id.)
According to the survey, an educator is present at less than
half the classification hearings-where inmate education
decisions are made. Teachers in the survey overwhelmingly
cited the lack of input from educators in evaluating inmates
and deciding placement as a primary reason for the problems.
(Id.)
5)Arguments in Support :
a) According to Service Employees International Union,
Local 1000 (the sponsor of this bill),"This bill addresses
historical failings in assigning inmates to appropriate
literacy, adult education and vocational classes. The bill
SB 1121
Page 8
provides for the application of the professional judgment
of credentialed educators in existing inmate classification
and assignment decisions. We believe this change will
foster student success, maximize the effectiveness of
education programs, universalize best practices and result
in better use of limited rehabilitation resources.
"In 1987, the Legislature recognized the importance of
functional literacy for inmates leaving prison and passed
AB 632, the Prisoner Literacy Act. This law required that
prison inmates who read below the 9th grade level have
access to literacy development services while incarcerated.
Fifty to sixty percent of the inmate population falls
within this category; yet, education capacity has been
reduced over the years. CDCR reported having 32,400
academic education slots and 4,914 vocational training
slots in December of 2011, well short of meeting the need.
CDCR has struggled to do more with less, especially since
the large budget reduction for FY 2009/2010 reduced
education staff by forty-five percent. One source of
increasing program capacity has not been successfully
addressed: efficient and effective classification and
assignment of inmates to programs.
"The post-realignment prison system will contain a more
stable inmate population with inmates incarcerated for
longer periods in less crowded conditions. This is an
opportunity to address the literacy and vocational needs of
the inmate population to greater effect. To do this, CDCR
must realign its priorities toward rehabilitation and do a
better job of placing the right inmate in the right program
at the right time."
b) According to the California Public Defenders
Association , "To successfully reintegrate into society it
is imperative that CDCR inmates be provided with academic
and vocational education. The presence of a credentialed
teacher, vice-principal, or principal at meetings relating
to placement in academic or vocational education of inmate
will ensure that the inmates are directed to proper
programs, suited to their individual needs.
"Given the high cost of incarceration, anything that can be
done to reduce recidivism is a wise investment for the
State to make. Enrollment of inmates in proper academic or
SB 1121
Page 9
vocational education programs is essential to reducing
recidivism."
6)Previous Legislation : AB 900 (Solorio), Chapter 7, Statutes
of 2007, created "The Public Safety and Offender
Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007," which authorizes $7.4
billion in lease-revenue bond financing for construction of
40,000 new state prison beds and 13,000 new county jail beds;
phased-in and contingent upon a series of rehabilitation
programming benchmarks; and requires CDCR to implement and
significantly enhance anti-recidivism programming including
substance abuse treatment, mental health care, and academic
and vocational education.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 (Sponsor)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
Drug Policy Alliance
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744